Book Title: Political History of Northern India
Author(s): Gulabchandra Chaudhary
Publisher: Sohanlal Jain Dharm Pracharak Samiti Amrutsar

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Page 339
________________ THE DYNSATIES OF SAURASTRA 309 Caulukya kingdom and give all credit for its administration and survival to them. Whatever may be their actual role in the affairs of Gujarāta, a number of inscriptions and monuments at Ābu, Girnar and Satrusijaya proclaim them as the moving spirit of Jainism. They did much for Jainism under the Vaghelas. Under Kumārapāla, Jainism not only secured the royal patronage, but made itself felt throughout the length and breadth of Gujarāta, but it declined under Ajayapāla and never regained that status under the succeeding kings. It, however, gained some amount of success and prosperity not known before, under the Vaghela ministers Vastupāla and Tejahpāla. In one verse of the Sukrta-sain kirtana there is a reference to various qualities of Vastupāla. He was well versed in arms, learning, wealth and in the field of battle.3 His bravery is demonstrated in the battle of Cambay with Sankha. He was a scholar and composed a poem entitled Naranārāyaṇānanda. He was a patron of learning. Several Jain and non-Jain scholars Arisimha, Bālacandrasūri, Someśvara, Jayasinhasūri, Udayaprabha, etc. flourished under his liberal prtronage.4 The Sukrta-sainkirtanā, Vasanta-vilāsa and Sukrta-kirti-kallolini and Naranārāyaṇānanda-kavya and all the contemporary works and several inscriptions from Mts. Girnar and Ābu describe the numerous charitable and building activities of the two ministers. They built many temples, wells, tanks, resting houses for Yatis, gardens and places for drinking water and supplied golden staffs to many temples. Mts. Satruñjaya, Girnar aud Ābu were, however, marked out by them for spending their immense wealth.5 These activities were not limited to Jainism only but they were extended to other religions also. Vastupāla had installed (somewhere) two images of the consorts of Sūrya, Ratnadevī and Rājadevi. He also built a mandapa of the temple of Gaņeśvara in the village of Ganuli in V.E. 1291.6 In the Sukrta-sankirtana several works of this type are described.? Someśvara in his work Kirti-kaumudi states : "It cannot be said about this Jain minister that he did not worship the gods Sankara and Vişnu and equally it also cannot be said that he 1 GOS., VII, Introduction, p. xv; see also, The Glory That Was Gurjaradeśa Pt. III, V. p. 216. 2 H. D. Sankalia, Archeology of Gujarata, p. 42. 3 Canto III, V. 43: T: The aqua : 4 GMRI., pp. 286-287. 5 GOS., VII, Introduction, p. xvi. 6 GMRI., p. 393 ; see also Archeology of Gujarata, pp. 214, 226. ? See its introduction, Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

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